In the May 11 & 25 SN: High-tech cricket farming, AI learns from Minecraft, looking for lithium, a new hominid species is named, signs of life in dead pig brains, Cherokee cave texts decoded, water molecules on the moon and more.

Quantum computing steps forward with 50-qubit prototype

CHOMPING AT THE QUBIT IBM announced two new advances to its quantum computing hardware (cooling system and other infrastructure shown): a 20-qubit processor that will be available commercially and a 50-qubit prototype currently undergoing testing.

IBM Research/Flickr

Bit by qubit, scientists are edging closer to the realm where quantum computers will reign supreme.

Unlike standard bits, which represent either 0 or 1, qubits can indicate a combination of the two, using what’s called quantum superposition. This property allows quantum computers to perform certain kinds of calculations more quickly. But because qubits are finicky, scaling up is no easy task. Previously, IBM’s largest quantum processor boasted 17 qubits.

IBM also announced a

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